


FindYourLoveDotCom

by FrostyFingers



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 06:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3799990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostyFingers/pseuds/FrostyFingers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Was he imagining this? Somehow it felt surreal to be listening to Aram suggesting that his Lizzie try her luck with an online dating site. A Lizzington fic and Secret Santa gift for my mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"You should try it, Liz. That's how my best friend found his wife. They've been together for four years now."

Was he imagining this? Somehow it felt surreal to be listening to Aram suggesting that his Lizzie try her luck with an online dating site. Surely she would tell him how absurd the thought was.

"I don't know, Aram." She shrugged, "I'm not really in love with the idea."

"Let me write the site down for you. Just give it a try, no one says you have to marry the first guy that comes your way, or even meet anyone from there. Just have some fun." The younger man scribbled down the name of the dating portal and handed her the piece of paper.

She took it from him and nodded in thanks before she grabbed her jacket and walked towards the elevator. Red followed and got in with her. "Hot date tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, right." Liz rolled her eyes. "I'll be more than happy if you'd actually leave me alone this weekend. Seriously, Red, I need to sleep. Unlike some people."

"But Lizzie, it's so boring without you."

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. "I'm sure you can find something to keep you busy. You better not call me."

He clutched his hat over his heart, looking at her with wide eyes. "Lizzie, I'm hurt. One might think you're trying to get rid of me."

"One weekend, Red. That's all I'm asking." As soon as the elevator opened, she strode out with him following behind.

"I will miss you dearly."

"Right," she replied. "Goodnight, Red."

He gave her a smile. "Goodnight, sweetheart. Have a good weekend." He watched as she got into her car and drove away before walking over to where Dembe had parked.

When she got home, Liz drew a hot bath and poured herself a glass of wine, before settling into the tub, relaxing for the first time in weeks, if not months. After almost falling asleep and drowning, she decided that the tub may not be the best place to relax. She dried herself with a big, fluffy towel and pulled on some sweatpants and an old t-shirt. Sitting down on the sofa her eyes fell on the piece of paper Aram had given her. Maybe it would be fun. He was right, she wouldn't have to meet with anyone if she didn't want to; all this was rather harmless. Reaching out, she took the laptop from the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa cushion, unfolding the crumbled piece of paper.

MatchDotCom... She took another sip from her glass and then went to register, where the site asked her to choose a nickname. Now, what did she want to call herself?

Lizzington Lizzington Lizzington

Red sat in an armchair with a glass of scotch in his hand, the ice clinking against the glass as he swirled the liquid around. He couldn't get the image of Lizzie chatting online with some weird strangers out of his head. It was bothering him, a lot, if he was being honest with himself. Pondering his options, he gulped down the rest of the amber liquid, before standing to pour himself another two fingers. She had asked him for some alone time this weekend, for him not to call her, and he would grant her the wish. He would not call.

Sitting back down into his armchair, Red powered up his laptop. He typed in the browser address and frowned at the website that showed up. This was not his usual style and it felt a little weird, but things could usually not get weird enough for him.

He clicked a couple of buttons until the site asked for a nickname. For a usually bright man he was at loss. It couldn't be something obvious, of course. If Lizzie found out it was him, then she would have his head. Looking around, his eyes fell on a file on the table; he had just looked at it this morning. Taking out the photo, he smiled at what he saw. The time he had spent in Mexico had been wonderful, and he remembered how the women there had called him Señor Sombrero. Red smiled. That would be it, Señor Sombrero. Typing in the words, he saw that it was still free and quickly typed in the rest of the information so he could get started.

Once he was good to go, he started looking through new members, trying to determine if Lizzie was under them. It was easier said than done because there were a lot of women without a photo, and he was rather sure that his favorite FBI agent wouldn't upload one herself. He was about to click on the 'next' button when his eyes fell on a certain profile.

IhateFertilizedDuckEggs83

Red burst out laughing. She was just too much sometimes, but he loved it. And what he loved even more was that she had apparently thought of him, even though he wasn't around, and even though she had told him to leave her alone for the weekend. It gave him a warm feeling inside.

Double clicking her name, a chat window pulled up and Red didn't think long before he started typing.

"It certainly is an acquired taste."

There was a 'seen' on the right bottom corner and he could practically see the cogs turning in her head.

"Excuse me?"

His Lizzie. Always so formal.

"Fertilized duck eggs. They are not for everyone."

"Oh, yes. I actually haven't tried them before though." He read.

"You haven't? How can you say that you hate them if you haven't even tried them yet?"

He took a sip from his glass and waited for her to reply.

"Well, I've also never taken a bullet to my body and still I know that I wouldn't like it."

He huffed a laugh. "That is a very interesting comparison, although I'm not sure if I should be concerned where your mind is."

He watched the little pen scribble a 'note' and then it wasn't anymore. She had probably deleted whatever she had written down. A couple of moments later he received a new message.

"I guess."

"Are you a criminal, IhateFertilizedDuckEggs83?" He wrote.

"No," she wrote back. "And if I were, do you think I would just tell you that now?"

Smartass. "You'd be surprised how open some people can be." She was surely already rolling her eyes at him. "Where are my manners? I'm -" He broke off. Who was he actually? "Richard."

"Hi, Richard." She typed back.

Shaking his head at her, his hands flew over the keys. "What's your name? I'd hate to have to call you Fertilized Duck Egg."

"Liz."

Talking about honesty. "It's very nice to meet you, Liz."

"You too," she replied shortly, and then after a moment another note followed. "I'm sorry. I'm kinda new to this and not sure what the correct etiquette is here."

He smiled at her words. "Don't worry about it. It is a little strange to be talking to random people online. I don't know what possessed me to join today."

"You too? I just joined today myself. A friend told me to try it, but I don't know."

"That depends on what you're looking for," he wrote. "I'm sure there are a lot of people that are looking for something casual."

"Is that what you are looking for?"

"Not me, no," he replied. "But there are more than enough that are. I think it's a waste of time, there are easier ways."

She didn't reply for a long couple of moments and Red feared that he had maybe pushed her too far already.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you in any way. Sometimes I tend to talk too much."

"It's alright. I was just surprised by the openness." She messaged back. "It's been a long couple of weeks and I'm probably overtired. I should get going."

"Already?" Red asked out loud. He took a look at the clock on the wall, it was 9pm. He turned back to the laptop on his legs. "Of course, I don't want to keep you then. I would enjoy talking to you again soon. But if you're creeped out, then I'd understand too."

"I'm not." She quickly replied. "I'm just exhausted. I'd like to talk to you some more as well."

Now they were getting somewhere. "I'm glad you say that. I'll let you leave then. Goodnight, Fertilized Duck Egg ;-) " He was getting the hang of this quickly.

"Maybe I should have taken some more time with the nickname," she replied, and he bet she was smiling. "Goodnight, Richard."

A moment later the site stated that she had gone offline, and so Red signed out as well.

This should be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

When Liz woke the next day, she went to the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She would not leave the house this weekend, that much was clear. Grabbing her mug, she went to sit on the couch and covered herself with a blanket, before putting her laptop on her lap. When she signed in, she could see that the guy from last night was online already.

Well, he had seemed somewhat nice. She shrugged to herself and then double-clicked his name.

"Hi."

"Good morning, Fertilized Duck Egg," he replied, and Liz had to laugh.

"I thought we had established that I'm Liz."

"My apologies," he wrote. "Liz. Did you get some sleep last night?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

"Surprisingly?"

"Work," she wrote.

"Why would work keep you up at night?"

"It's complicated."

Now, that is interesting. "Complicated how? What could you possibly be doing that involves people calling you at night?"

Nosy bastard, Liz thought. "I'm a profiler."

"That is very interesting, I'm sure. Don't worry, I will not ask you to profile me. I'm sure that's getting old."

Liz laughed as she read his words. "It is and thank you," she typed.

"Why would they call you in at night though?"

"Like I said, it's complicated."

"Oh, come on, Lizzie," Red said out loud. "Fair enough. You do realize that this just makes me more curious?"

"You know, you remind me of someone."

"Oh, no," he said aloud. "I hope it's someone absolutely charming and good looking like myself."

Liz laughed, was this guy for real? "Now you definitely remind me of him!"

Red grinned even though he was a little anxious now. "So, he is charming and good looking." He waited a beat and then started typing again. "This guy, does he work with you?"

She tapped her chin and took a sip of her coffee. "Sorta."

'Sorta. Really, Lizzie?' "Care to elaborate?"

"It really is kind of complicated, Richard," she replied.

"Fair enough. Excuse my prying, but you and him. Are you an item?"

"God, no!" She quickly answered, and Red grimaced at just how quickly she had replied.

"But I thought he was a handsome and charming guy."

"Well, yeah, he is."

'He is… I am. I am?' Red could feel his heart skipping a beat. Was she talking about him? Oh, how he hoped she was. "What's keeping you then?"

Liz scratched her head. Yes, what was keeping her indeed. Well, he was the number four criminal on the FBI's most wanted list so start with… "It's complicated."

"You sure like to say that, don't you?" Red typed. "Taking the easy way out."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe just how complicated that man is. He's so frustrating."

He frowned. 'Frustrating?' "What's his name?"

"Let's call him Raymond."

Red laughed out loud. 'Sweetheart, you really are bad at this.' "And this Raymond is a frustrating guy. Why, what does he do that's so frustrating?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I don't know, Richard. I don't feel comfortable talking about him."

"It seems like he makes you uncomfortable. Does he harass you?"

"No!" She sent back. "No, he isn't like that." The warm feeling was back. He liked the way this was going. "We really shouldn't be talking about him."

"Oh, I don't mind," he replied, and went to type again, but she beat him to it.

"So... tell me about you, Richard."

'Changing the topic. We'll get back to that later though, sweetheart,' he thought to himself. "Well, there's not much to tell."

Liz grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. Why was it so cold? "You made me spill my life story, now I want to hear yours."

"I'm an entrepreneur," he started.

"Private stuff, Richard," she interrupted again.

"Now who's nosy?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come over like that."

She was adorable. "I was just kidding, you're fine; and I'd say after how I pressured you, sharing my story is fair." He could picture her grinning now. "So, I'm a middle aged man, divorced, I enjoy traveling and do it quite frequently."

"Middle aged, really, Richard?"

"Why? What's wrong with middle aged?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "You could at least tell me your age. You know mine after all."

"It's your own fault you named yourself IhateFertilizedDuckEggs83. Seriously, I still don't get why you would name yourself that if you haven't even tried them."

"It's just something Ray once said."

'Ray. How sweet that would sound dropping from your beautiful lips.' "So you are close."

"Shit," Liz said out loud. She should really learn to keep herself in check. "No, we're not. Can we get back to you please? You were telling me your age."

"You don't ask a man his age."

Not able to stop herself, she snorted at his words. "Talk. Now."

"Mhm… pushy, I like that." He ended up typing. "I'm 54."

"See? Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She replied.

Even though he really didn't want to face the answer, he had to ask the next question. "Does it bother you that I'm 23 years older?"

"Why would that bother me?"

Red sighed, already somewhat relieved. "Well, technically I'm old enough to be your father."

There was a moment of silence and the Concierge of Crime kicked himself for saying that.

"Richard, if you're on a dating website and you're talking to someone you would maybe actually like to meet, you don't say things like that."

He knew that too, and he didn't understand why he had asked that question in the first place. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I just didn't want to get my hopes up and think a beautiful young woman would like to meet me without making sure…" He wasn't sure where he was going with this. His palms were sweaty, was he getting nervous? "Forget I said anything. I apologize."

"It's fine."

"I'll let you leave. You probably have things to do and so do I."

"Wait," she typed quickly, and he closed his eyes for a moment. "Really, Richard, it's alright. You don't have to leave."

Red was shaking his head. He could be dense sometimes. "I have to take care of some business. Again, I apologize. Have a good day."

"Richard," she quickly typed, hoping he would wait for one more moment. "Richard? Are you still there?" The little green light next to his name turned grey, signaling that he had signed off. Liz groaned in frustration and put the laptop off to the side. Great, now what? She really wanted to talk to the guy again, he seemed nice and interesting. Picking up the laptop, she decided to leave a quick message. "Richard, you don't just leave a woman in the middle of a conversation. That said, I really would like to get to know you some more, so if you read this, I have to take care of some stuff, but I'll be online around 8pm. I hope to see you then."

Liz spent the day cleaning her new apartment while listening to some music. She wasn't really fond of housework, but someone had to do it, and since she was on her own… well, there was not much she could do but to give in. While she was busy dusting off her cupboards, she found her mind slipping to Red and how he hadn't called her yet. It was unusual for him to follow her orders, any orders really, but she was glad he seemed to get her need to have some alone time after everything that had happened; though she was pretty sure that he would know if she stepped outside. He had a thing for security measures.

When she was finally done cleaning her apartment, Liz ordered some Indian takeout, imagining how Red would frown at her for all the takeout she was consuming, but she really, really couldn't cook. She found herself wondering if Richard could cook, she'd have to ask him about that. There really wasn't anything more sexy than a man that knew how to cook.

Flopping down on her couch, a container of chicken curry in one hand, and a remote in the other, she switched on the TV and settled for some cheesy movie that was just beginning. Throwing the remote to the other side of her couch, Liz opened her laptop and went to the dating website again. Signing in, she couldn't stop the excitement when she saw that Richard was online as well. Before she could even think about a way to start the conversation, a message window popped open.

"Hello, Liz. I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to just leave you hanging."

"Hi, Richard. Don't worry about it, really." To show him she really meant what she had said, Liz added a little smiley face emoticon.

"Still," he started typing, but was interrupted by her.

"No," she said. "Whatever you were going to say, don't. Let me just say one thing and then this topic is closed. I do not mind you being older than me."

His hands hovered over the keyboard for a moment. Why was she making him that nervous? "I'm glad," he finally answered. "So, what have you been up to today?" He hurried on.

"Cleaning mostly, which I absolutely hate. Now I'm having dinner, while some movie I don't recognize is playing on the TV."

"What's for dinner?"

"Indian."

"You cook?"

Liz huffed a laugh. "Yeah, no. Take out. Can you cook?"

"Take out? I guess I'll have to cook for you then. I'm a passionate cook, to answer your question."

"You'll have to teach me!"

A smile spread over his face. Oh, how he wanted to show her how to cook. Among other things. "I would be delighted to do so," he replied. "Enjoy your meal. I'll be here when you're finished."

"Oh, no, that's fine. I can multitask."

"One should eat their meals in peace."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Never!" Okay, so he really was cute.

"Would you believe that? It's actually You've Got Mail!"

'What?' "Excuse me?"

"The movie. It's You've Got Mail. With Tom Hanks."

He shook his head as if she could see him. "I'm sorry, swee-" He stopped and quickly deleted the word again. Slipping up now was not an option. "I don't quite follow."

"Well, basically it's about two people chatting online thinking they don't know each other, when in fact they know each other in real life. It's super crazy. Just think about it. I would kill myself if I actually ended up talking to my co-worker or something."

"Maybe that guy you were talking about is on here as well."

"Ray?" She laughed at the absurdity. "Right, no, he's not."

Raising a brow he started typing again. "Why would you say that? Is he in a relationship?"

"To be honest, I wouldn't even know. Well, I probably would, but he's not the kind of guy for relationships."

Turning in his armchair, he crossed his right leg over the left. "I see why you chose complicated before."

"He's not around much. He travels quite a lot, and I don't think he has the patience for a monogamous relationship. He's one of those 'take what you want, whenever you want it' kinda guys."

Low blow. Her words had really hit home, and for a long moment Red wasn't sure what to say. Did she really think of him like that? That he was just looking for a quick roll in the hay before moving on? That he was incapable of loving someone and only one woman at the time? He shouldn't be, but he was somewhat insulted by her remarks. She didn't know him at all, but that was really his own damn fault.

"He doesn't sound like someone to be around."

"I guess I came across wrong. He really isn't a bad guy." Taking a bite of the chicken, Liz started typing again. "And again we're talking about him. I thought we had moved on from there."

Well, at least he had distracted her from the movie. It was just his luck that she was watching this while experiencing some form of the movie in real life.

They went on talking about anything and everything and Liz noticed how easy it was to talk to the kind stranger. He wasn't even a stranger anymore, not really anyway. She already knew more about him than she knew about Red and she had spent over more than a year with the man. Almost every day too!

Liz felt her eyes burning and rubbed the back of her hand over them before looking at the clock. It was almost midnight! They had talked for four hours straight. Wow, he really knew how to keep a conversation going. He had just finished telling her a story about his experience in Cambodia and how he had come to try his first fertilized duck eggs.

"I'm even more disgusted now," she wrote.

"You're a tough case."

"Hey, Richard? I'm about to fall asleep. I'm exhausted. And part of my weekend off was to get some much needed sleep."

"Oh, would you look at the time," he commented. "Well, I had a wonderful time talking to you."

"Me, too."

"Goodnight and pleasant dreams."

Yes, he was cute alright. "Goodnight, Richard. I'll talk to you soon."


	3. Chapter 3

On Sunday she slept in, actually using the time off she had been granted. Around lunch time she went online to see if her new friend was logged in, only to be disappointed when he wasn't. She didn't like it one bit that he didn't come online to talk to her all day long.

Monday came all too soon and Liz found herself back in the war room; getting waved over by a very curious Aram.

"Tell me, did you do it?"

She rolled her eyes as Ressler came to a stop next to them as well. "You two are the worst."

"Come on Keen, share."

"Yes. Yes, I went onto that site."

Both men grinned and started asking her questions without even leaving her enough time to answer, not that she wanted to anyway. Without another word, she turned and walked into her office, ignoring the boys calling after her.

When the door opened and Ressler walked into the small space, Liz pretended to be hard at work, trying hard to ignore the way he was grinning at her. "Alright Liz, tell me about that site."

"Don't you have something to do?"

"No, I'd rather talk about you. So, spill, Keen. Find anyone yet?" He asked.

Dropping her pen with a sigh, she turned her chair to the side and crossed one leg over the other. "I only really talked to one guy."

"Ooooh, so there's already a guy. Have you met him? Have you hooked up yet?"

"No!" She replied immediately. "No, I have not hooked up with him."

Ressler leaned forward in his chair. "What's his name? What does he look like? Come on, spill."

She shook her head. "I'm only gonna tell you this much: his name's Richard."

"Who's Richard?"

Both Ressler's and Liz's head flew to the now open door, where the Concierge of Crime was standing, his trademark hat in his hand.

"Red," she said, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hello, Lizzie. Donald." Both men nodded at each other. "Who's Richard?" He asked again, and the female FBI agent almost groaned out loud at the question.

"Agent Keen here has signed up –"

"Shut up, Ressler!" She interrupted immediately, then turned back to the man standing in the doorway. "Is there something you need, Red?"

"You."

After a somewhat uncomfortable silence, Liz finally found her voice again. "Right. Do you have a new name for us?"

Red gave her a smile, knowing that he had thrown her off. "Let's discuss this over lunch," he said, and then turned to the other agent. "I'm sorry, Donald, there's only enough space for two."

Throwing a fake smile back at the man, Ressler stood. "What a shame. Keen, call me when you have something for us." With that, the Captain American impersonation left.

"Shall we?" Red asked, putting his hat back onto his head.

Trying not to notice how good he looked in this particular three-piece, it was the dark blue one, Liz stood and put on her jacket before walking past him and towards the elevator. As soon as they both walked inside and the doors had closed, Red turned to her.

"So...who's Richard?" She shot him a look that clearly said that she did not want to talk about that. "Lizzie, I haven't seen you since Friday. Didn't you miss me?" Finally the doors opened again and she left the elevator, walking towards the exit of the building. "I missed you," he added softly.

Maybe it was his words, or maybe it was his tone of voice, but something pulled at her heartstrings, warming her from the inside. She waited for him to catch up to her and then gently bumped her shoulder against his. "It was a little too quiet this weekend," she told him, before walking out into the sun, missing the grin that spread over his face.

After greeting Dembe, both got into the car and Liz was all business again. "So, you have a new name for us?"

"I'm famished, Lizzie. Have you eaten yet? We'll talk about business later. Tell me how you've been, did you get enough sleep?"

Knowing he wouldn't back down, she gave in. "Yes, I actually slept more than I have in a long time, but I don't think I would have managed another day without doing anything. I got a little fidgety on Sunday."

Red chuckled. "You need to find a hobby."

Liz snorted. "When would I have time for a hobby?"

He turned in his seat, facing her now. "You can't just work all the time, Lizzie."

"You're the one bringing me all those names, remember? Between working and trying to get some shut eye, there's not much time."

"What about chess? Or cooking! Neither take up much time." She gave him a look without saying anything. "What?"

"Red," she started, "I can neither play chess, nor do I know how to cook."

"I could teach you," he offered immediately.

"You can cook?"

He looked offended at that. "Of course I can cook, Lizzie! Not all of us live solely on take out."

She leaned her head against the headrest and watched him for a moment. "And you'd teach me? Both things?"

Red smiled at her. "I would love to, Lizzie."

The corners of her lips turned upward, and it was then that he knew that there could never be anyone but her. She was just so very beautiful. On the outside as well as on the inside. She was such an intelligent, passionate, young woman, and she had captured his heart without even trying.

When they got to the diner the waiter addressed Red by his first name, obviously the Concierge of Crime was a regular,and lead them to a booth in the back. They ordered what they wanted, then handed back their menus.

"So, Lizzie," he started, leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over the other. "Who's Richard?"

Liz groaned, having thought they would actually talk business now. "Seriously, Red?"

"Humor me."

"No."

"Come on, Lizzie, don't make me beg." He gave her puppy dog eyes.

She closed her eyes for a moment before re-opening them to give him a look. "I'm not discussing my love life with you."

His eyebrows shot up at that. "Your love life, Lizzie? Just what happened this weekend. Did you two meet? Fall madly in love and are planning on running away?"

"What? No! God, what do you think I am?"

"A beautiful, intelligent woman who's in the prime of her life."

She blushed heavily at his words and quickly looked away. "I haven't met up with him."

"But you're going to?"

"I… I don't know," she answered honestly.

He leaned forward slightly, gently trailing his index finger over her hand. "Maybe you should."

Liz sighed. "After Tom… I just… I don't know," she said again.

His heart hurt for her. He didn't want her to feel this pain, to think that this was all life had to give, which seemed nothing but darkness. "Sweetheart, sometimes you have to take chances, even if it seems risky. After everything that's happened, lately anyway, I realize that this is one of the hardest things for you; but you can't give up on life, on love. You deserve to be happy." Her eyes were wet, and for a moment he was afraid she would cry, he hated seeing her cry. He covered her hand with his and squeezed it, and was somewhat startled when she turned her hand underneath his and squeezed back. She didn't normally show any sort of affection for him, and having her touch him was a rare occasion.

Soon the waiter came and brought their lunch, and they both ate in comfortable silence until Red started telling her about the next name on the blacklist.


	4. Chapter 4

When Liz finally got home that night, she settled down on her couch and powered up her laptop. As soon as she had signed into the dating site, a message window popped open and she couldn't help but smile.

"Hello, Liz. I'm sorry I wasn't online yesterday. I missed chatting with you. How have you been?"

"Hey, Richard. That's alright. I'm fine. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you," he replied. "Liz, please don't think I'm some crazy person, but would you consider meeting up? We could maybe go for some coffee? Or dinner? Whichever you prefer."

She almost choked on her water when she read his words. Would she want that? Could she actually start seeing someone already? But it wasn't as if she would be dating him immediately, it was one get together. She didn't even have to consider it a date.

You deserve to be happy

Red's words rang in her head. Yes, she did.

"Ah, to hell with it," she said out loud. "I would love to meet you, Richard."

Across town Red's face lit up. Even though technically Lizzie wanted to meet with Richard, she ultimately wanted to meet him, and that was good enough for him. He would wait for her in a quiet little restaurant, and as soon as she came in, she would see him sitting there and her smile would be infectious… or she would hate him for lying to her, for pretending to be someone else, and she would tell him how crazy it was for him to think she would even consider him as a lover. Red was far from a religious person, but at that moment he prayed that it would not go like that.

"I'm delighted to hear that, Liz," he replied. "Is tomorrow too soon?"

She grinned at his eagerness. "Tomorrow is fine, but I have to work. I think I could make it around 8pm."

"So, dinner it is then."

"Sounds great!"

"Splendid!" He both said and wrote.

Red sent her the name and address of a restaurant he knew well and told her he would make a reservation under 'Richard Grey'. They talked some more about favorite foods and seasons and things they enjoyed doing when they actually had the time for it, and Liz was glad she had agreed to the blind date. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

After a long day at work, and breaking up the constant bickering between a tired Ressler and an annoying Red, Liz hurried home to make herself presentable. She wanted to look good for her date or not date, whatever it was. Who knew, maybe this man could play a bigger role in her life at some point.

When she got to the restaurant, Liz noted that she had forgotten her cell phone at the office and cursed herself for it. She went in and told the manager that there was a reservation for two and asked if her date was already there. The man told her no, but gladly led her to the table that had been reserved for them. Liz patiently sipped her water while she waited, but soon got bored. Checking her wristwatch, she noticed that it was well past 8 already, almost 9pm. If there was something she hated, it was being late, especially if it was the first impression of someone. She gave him another 30 minutes, though she didn't know why, then she stood and put some bills on the table for a tip and with a forced smile to the waiter, she left.

Red hated the winter months. He hated them so very much. This day even more so. His plane was grounded somewhere up in Maine, and even though he had threatened his pilot with bodily harm, they couldn't leave. Dembe had told him as much. When it became clear that he would be more than late for his first date with Lizzie, he tried calling her, swearing when all he got was the mailbox. She would be so mad, he was sure of it.

"Raymond, why don't you call the restaurant so the manager can let her know?" Dembe suggested.

"Yes. Good thinking, my friend," he replied, and quickly dialed the number. "Pedro, it's Richard."

"Hello, Richard. What can I do for you?" The Italian answered.

"I had a reservation for a beautiful lady and myself. Has she arrived yet?"

"Brunette with stunning blue eyes?"

His Lizzie… "Yes, that's her."

"She just left."

She what? "Excuse me?"

The man cleared his throat uncomfortably. "She has been waiting here for over an hour, and she just left like five minutes ago."

"Shit," Red swore softly. "I'm sorry, Pedro, but I couldn't make it tonight. Did she get something to eat at least?"

"She didn't. Only had some water."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. Thank you, Pedro and again, I apologize for my absence."

"That is alright, Richard, I know you're busy. I hope to see you soon."

"Of course. Goodnight." With that he ended the call and hung his head.

"Raymond?" Dembe addressed carefully.

"I fucked it up." Red rarely swore, so what happened must have upset him.

"She will forgive you, brother," the other man said softly.

He hoped his long time friend was right.

When he walked into the post office the next morning, he noticed that Ressler was busy talking to Aram about something, which meant that he could talk to Lizzie alone. Just what he wanted.

He didn't bother knocking as he went into her office, closing the door behind him. "Good morning, Lizzie!" He said cheerfully, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was feeling right now.

"Hi," she replied, barely looking up.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Right… "You don't look fine. What's wrong?" He knew exactly what was wrong, but he couldn't just hug her tightly and tell her how sorry he was.

"I'm fine," she said again.

"Sweetheart." She leaned back in her chair and shot him a look. "Talk to me."

"I was stood up. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

It was one of the last things he ever wanted to hear. "Richard?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course him. It's not like I go around prostituting myself, Red."

Yes, she was pissed alright. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. Maybe something came up?" She snorted at that. "Had he means to contact you?"

Liz sighed. "No."

Red nodded. "He probably didn't mean to, sweetheart. No one would ever willingly stand you up."

"I don't know."

"Why don't you give him a chance here? I'm not saying you have to cave immediately, and if he hasn't messaged you on that site yet, then just forget him anyway; but if he has, maybe you can look past this incident."

She regarded him for a long time. "Are you trying out a new profession as a date doctor?"

Red snorted at that. "I don't think I could give any good advice in that area."

Liz smiled at him. "I'll think about it."

"What, me becoming a date doctor?"

"No!" She laughed and it sounded like music to his ears. "What you said about Richard."

He cocked his head and winked at her.


	5. Chapter 5

Red waited patiently for Lizzie to come online. He had already sent her a message late in the night, apologizing over and over again for standing her up and telling her that his plane couldn't take off because of a heavy snow storm. He hoped she would forgive him for it.

He was staring at the message window, wishing she would just come online already, when suddenly the little grey dot changed to green. His heart started pounding in his chest. She would be reading his message any moment now. Only seconds after, the little 'seen' showed up on his screen and he knew she was reading his words, and either she would reply or she would leave right away.

'Come on, Lizzie. Please, I didn't mean not to come,' he thought, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Hey, Richard."

He sighed in relief. "Lizzie" he typed, but quickly corrected himself. "Liz, I am so sorry. You won't believe how sorry I am. I really wanted to meet you. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

It was far from okay. "I was so mad when the pilot said we couldn't start. I threatened bodily harm, but he wouldn't hear any of it."

Over at her apartment, Liz couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped her. Maybe Red was right and she should give him a chance. "It really is alright. Things like that can happen."

"I know this is going to sound so bad, but would you consider going out with me again?" He asked. "Well, obviously not again, since we haven't gone out yet." What the hell was wrong with him?!

"Yes," she replied, and he was glad she didn't call him out on his babbling. "But this week is kinda full. Work is a little crazy at times."

He smiled at the screen in front of him. "Whatever suits you best, Liz. And I promise there won't be any fertilized eggs."

"Will you stop with these eggs already?" She replied immediately, and he knew she was laughing now. "You know what? What about this Saturday?"

Reading her words made his heart skip a beat. He got another chance, and it would already happen this week. In less than five days actually. Barely even able to control his happiness, he carefully typed a reply. "That would be lovely."

"Great!" She messaged back. "Same time and place?"

"If you would like that, then yes, of course."

"It's a date then." 'Oh my god, did I really just say that?!' She thought, her heart rate picking up.

'Did she really just say that?' Red took a long sip of his scotch. She was probably freaking out over her words, so he decided to go rather easy on her. "I can't wait to meet you, Liz."

She blushed at that. He really was a cute guy, even though he had stood her up, but it wasn't really his fault. Also he kind of reminded her of Red… she sighed heavily at that thought. Even though Richard and Red shared some similarities, the other man could probably never live up to her favorite criminal. It was bad enough that she had fallen for the charming bastard, but now she was comparing every other man to him, and no one could ever live up to that. She was basically doomed, but she had to give Richard a chance. For all she knew he could be the one. Liz snorted at that. 'Fat chance,' she thought.

"Are you still there?"

She had forgot about him! "Yes, yes, I am. I'm sorry. I was trying not to be embarrassed here for a moment."

"I wouldn't have brought it up," he replied, wearing a smile as he typed the words. "And you don't have to be embarrassed, Liz. I would really like it if you considered this a date."

Her heart fluttered at what she read. Now, if he was just a 5'10'' tall, fedora wearing man with sparkling blue-greenish eyes and able to wear the hell out of a three-piece… it was no use anyway. If she got herself worked up about how there was a possibility that he was anything like Red, when he actually was his own person, she would end up being disappointed, and Richard didn't deserve that. Still, she had to ask one question.

"Are you a suit wearing kinda guy?"

Well, that was unexpected. Was she trying to steer away from her uneasiness? He decided to humor her at least. "As a matter of fact, I am. In my line of work it comes in handy."

"Three-piece?"

'Now that is interesting.' "Always."

'Oh my god.'

"What color do you like most and I'll make sure to find the right suit for you."

"Well, a grey three-piece is always a good choice," she typed. 'Especially with Red…' "But cream and dark blue are a close second."

"Sweetheart, I believe you've been checking me out," he said out loud. Sipping his scotch, he messaged back, "You're in for a treat then."

"If you tell you me now that you're also wearing a hat…"

"Are you trying to tell me that you have a thing for hats?" He asked with a grin. This was so good. "Why, yes. A fedora actually."

"No fucking way," Liz exclaimed and greedily gulped down some water. "Interesting."

"Is that a yes?" He wanted to scream at this discovery. Here she was, the woman of his dreams, telling him she loved the way he dressed. Well, not him, but someone else or at least that was what she thought. So basically she told another man she loved the way he, Red, dressed. He almost died right then.

"I like classy men," she messaged back. She actually did!

"I'll take that as a yes." Red leaned back into the cushion of his armchair, feeling a lot more confident than he had before. Now he could be sure to almost a certainty that his Lizzie reciprocated his feelings. He couldn't wait to see her, couldn't wait for their date either.

"I hope I didn't weird you out," she typed.

"Things can never get weird enough for me," he replied immediately.

She laughed at that. "Well, that sounds promising." Taking a look at her clock, she knew she had to leave at some point. "Richard, I need to get going. It's been a long day."

"Of course," he typed back. "Goodnight. Sleep well." 'Sweetheart,' he added in his head.

"Goodnight. I'll see you soon."

'Very soon, my love.' He thought, dropping his head backwards, his eyes closed and a smile on his lips.

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"Good morning, Lizzie!" A cheerful voice drifted through her office. "I come bearing gifts."

She looked up and almost forgot how to breathe. There he was, the concierge of crime, wearing the hell out of his cream three-piece complete with fedora. She could feel her heart banging against her sternum and the heat creeping up her neck.

Oh god, and now he was looking at her because she still hadn't said anything. Words! Words, where were they?!

"Are you alright, Lizzie?" He asked with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Sure," she barely got out before clearing her throat. "I'm fine."

He grinned at her, knowing full well just how much he was affecting her right now. "I brought you some coffee," he answered, handing her a cup. He deliberately let his fingers touch hers and watched her bite her bottom lip to hide whatever she wanted to hide. Oh, yes, his favorite FBI agent was feeling something for him alright.

Red settled down in Ressler's chair, adjusting it to his liking, while never taking his eyes off a very flustered Elizabeth Keen.

"Thanks for the coffee," she finally said.

"You're most welcome," he answered with a charming smile. "So, what's new?"

"What's new?" She asked and then it dawned on her. "Oh, you mean Richard." He didn't answer and instead gave her a nod. "Well, we talked and I'm going to meet him."

"So another date then."

"What – I – no." The grin that came to his face made him look so adorable. "Why are you so interested in my life?"

"I'm always interested in your life, especially your love life."

"Red," she said in warning, but of course he ignored it.

"Lizzie, after everything that's happened, I'd like to make sure you'll be okay."

She wouldn't tell him just how much she appreciated his words, how much she appreciated him, so instead she took a sip of her coffee, eyeing him and trying not to show that she was grateful for the perfect cup of coffee he had gotten her. He was staring right back at her, and Liz wondered if his eyes were blue rather than green with maybe a hint of grey. She wanted to see them up close, see his pupils widen while he was leaning in, to close the distance between their lips, his hands at her waist and –

"Lizzie?"

"Huh?"

"You zoned out there for a moment."

Again. Shit. "Uh yeah… so, is there something new for us?"

He let his tongue wet his bottom lip, and her eyes were instantly drawn to his mouth. Once again, she started imagining just how soft those lips would be, and then there was that smirk and she knew she had been busted, damn it! "So, Lizzie," he started, leaning forward. "When are you going to meet your mystery man?"

Finally getting a grip, she straightened her spine. "Soon."

Saturday

Liz hadn't taken as long as she had assumed and got to the restaurant a little early. After some small talk with the waiter, she found out that her date... that Richard hadn't arrived yet. Well, she was early after all. She had just settled down into the comfortable booth when her cell chirped to life. After fumbling to get it out of her clutch, she touched the screen to answer it.

"Keen."

"Agent Keen, there's a problem," Dembe's voice came over the line.

She groaned. "Seriously, Dembe? He can't even leave me alone when he knows that I'm on a date?"

"No, Agent Keen, it's not like -"

"Dembe, I don't want to talk to him right now. You can tell him that."

"Agent Keen, he -" The man broke off for a moment and it seemed as if he had his turned away from the phone. "Just keep him awake."

Her stomach clenched at that. "Dembe?" She called out, but received no reply. "Dembe!"

"Yes, Agent Keen?"

"What the hell happened. Is Red okay?" Her heart rate picked up immediately.

"There was an issue. He got shot -"

"WHAT?!"


	6. Chapter 6

"What the hell happened. Is Red okay?" Her heart rate picked up immediately.

"There was an issue. He got shot -"

"WHAT?!"

"It's not that -"

"Oh my god," she interrupted again. "I'm on my way."

"Agent Keen."

"Dembe, just tell me where to go and I'll be right there!" Liz was already standing up and walking towards the exit.

She heard the man sigh on the other end. "I'll text you the address, but drive safe." 'Raymond will kill me if you get hurt,' he added in his head.

"I'm on my way," she replied and hung up. 'You better not die on me, Red.'

"Oh, miss, you're already leaving?" The waiter asked.

She barely glanced at him as she hurried past. "Emergency," she answered shortly, and all but ran out of the restaurant.

On her way to her destination, Liz was sure she had broken about every single traffic law there was, and almost crashed her car twice while she drove at break-neck speed. Her wheels came to a screeching halt in front of the house that Dembe had told her to come to, and she was at the front door before the car door slammed closed.

As she hurried past a security guard, who quickly stepped out of her way, she noticed some drops of blood in the entry way and her heart stopped beating for a long moment.

"He's upstairs. Second room to the right," the man offered. She didn't recognize him, and she didn't care. All that mattered was that her handsome bastard was not going to die.

She tossed the door open and stumbled into the room. Two pairs of curious eyes flew her way, one of them a little glassy.

"Lizzie! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Red asked, addressing both Liz and Dembe.

Her mouth was slightly open, her chest heaving, and to her horror, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. There was so much blood. Gauze pads, cotton swabs and white towels were soaked with the red fluid; and in the middle of the bed was the Concierge of Crime. A very shirtless Concierge of Crime with a big adhesive bandage on his upper arm, which was lying on his chest, secured with a sling around his neck. His skin was lighter than usual, and there was faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Red frowned for a moment, taking in the way her body started trembling and how her eyes were fixed on the bloody medical supplies next to him. "Lizzie." She didn't react to her name. "Dembe, what the hell did you tell her, why is she even here?"

"You called out for her over and over again," the tall man replied.

"Lizzie, come here." Red held out his good arm, inviting her to sit with him, but she seemed to be rooted to the spot. "Sweetheart, come sit with me. I'm fine, everything is fine. It's just a flesh wound."

That seemed to do the trick, and the FBI agent slowly walked towards the bed, her eyes never leaving the blood that was practically everywhere. When she was finally standing next to the bed, her eyes traveled up to his, seeing the gentle smile he was giving her. He patted the spot next to his hip.

"Why don't you sit down?" He asked gently, relieved when she followed his suggestion. "Dembe, get her some water please."

The other man nodded. "Raymond, she wouldn't let me explain."

Red gave him a strained smile, knowing full well how his Lizzie could get. When his long time friend had left the room, he put his palm against her cheek, raising her eyes to his instead of having them locked on his slightly blood soaked bandage. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" He asked, taking her hand in his to squeeze it.

"I - I was so worried. I didn't know what happened." Her voice sounded fragile. "I thought you were gonna die." Her hand found its way to his cheek, cupping it just like he had cupped hers. As soon as she felt his strong pulse under her pinkie finger, a dam broke and silent tears started running down her face.

"Sweetheart." His heart broke at the sight of her crying. Once again because of him. "Sweetheart, please, no crying. Please don't cry." He tugged on her hand to pull her closer so he could wrap his good arm around her, gathering her in an embrace and holding her against his chest. Her body shook with tremors as she tried hard not to fall apart. Her own arms coming around his waist so she could hug him as close as possible.

Even though hugging Lizzie was one of his most favorite things in the world, he hated seeing her cry, feeling her tears dropping to his chest, before running over his skin until they dropped to the bed sheet. Tightening his one-armed embrace, Red dropped a kiss to her hair before burying his nose in it, inhaling her sweet scent while whispering that he was indeed alright and she wouldn't have to worry at all.

"You can't die on me," she whispered, her warm breath tickling him.

"I won't," he replied. "I'm not done with you yet. By far." When she pulled back, he gave her the biggest smile he could muster before gently wiping some tears from her face. Then he reached over and picked up the glass of water. She hadn't even noticed Dembe return and leave again. "Here, have some water."

She gladly accepted it, taking slow sips so she wouldn't end up hacking all over him. His hand was on her thigh now, his fingers drawing small circles over the fabric of her dress. She was beautiful in that dress, even though her make-up was smudged and her hair a little messed up. Dark blue really suited her as well. He would have loved to have that dinner date with her. This was the second time they had gotten interrupted before it actually began. It was ridiculous, really, but at least she had ditched 'Richard' without a second thought to come to him.

"I was really worried, Red. Can you please stop getting shot at?"

A grin spread over his face, but he wouldn't tease her, not now anyway. "I'll try," he replied softly. "You look beautiful, Lizzie."

She snorted at that. "I bet."

"You do. You should get back to your date."

Richard. She had forgotten all about him, but she really wasn't in the mood for a blind date anymore anyway, and she wanted to be with Red, to make sure he really was alright. She shook her head. "I'd rather stay," she replied. "If that's okay with you."

"I'd be delighted." Red gave her another smile. "Though I'm not sure I'm going to be that great of company. I'm already doped up on... something and I'm pretty sure I'll fall asleep on you."

"That's okay." Liz gently rubbed at the tears she has dropped all over his chest, unaware that her fingers running through his chest hair were giving him very different feelings altogether. When he was sure he would start screaming at the beautiful torture, he grabbed her hand and flattened it over his heart. "I'll be here when you wake up."

He released a shaky breath at that. He wanted to stay awake, wanted to savor every minute of this, but those damn meds were making him drowsy, and he could feel his eyes dropping. He wanted to tell her so much, wanted her to know how much this, her, meant to him. He wanted to tell her so many things, but he couldn't quite form the words, so he said that one word that meant the most to him.

"Lizzie..."

It came out as a whisper, but she could hear him just fine. His eyes were closed now and he looked so very peaceful. Her heart rate had finally returned to normal and she was more than relieved to see he would be fine. He probably wouldn't remember anything of their conversation, her breakdown, after waking up, but he would know that she had been with him and that was most important to her.

The last thing Red noticed were her warm lips against his cheek before he finally drifted off to sleep.

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When he woke up, he knew the morphine or whatever Dembe had given him, had worn off. He could already feel his arm throbbing. The pain wasn't too bad, at least he knew he was still alive; he felt a little trapped though. There was something on top of him. Slowly opening his eyes, he squinted at the bright light coming through the curtains; it seemed to be morning already. He gave the bandage on his arm a look, Dembe had apparently changed it while he was sleeping, there was almost no blood visible. Turning his head, he almost jumped at the sight of a mop of brown hair that was sprawled over his stomach and chest.

There she was, his beautiful Lizzie with one of her arms thrown over his waist and the other lying against his chest. Her warm breath ghosted over him, ruffling the fine hair there with every intake and exhale. By the looks of it she was fast asleep, using him as a pillow, while carefully avoiding his hurt arm. The position she was in, with her legs still dangling from the mattress, couldn't be comfortable though. She would be in some pain when she woke up. It was adorable, and he felt his heart swell for her. Using his good arm, Red let his hand run over her head, stroking the hair from her face. She was so beautiful, her face relaxed and her lips slightly parted, and he knew that he needed to tell her how he felt.

Shifting a little on the bed, he could feel his bladder protesting. He needed to pee, badly, but he didn't want to wake her up. He knew just how little sleep she was getting nowadays, especially after Tom. He felt like he would explode anytime soon, and if he didn't go now it would probably end badly. Liz shifted, managing to put pressure on his bladder, and Red groaned. The sound seemed to do the trick and he could see her eyelids flutter open. For a moment she just stayed like that, probably a little confused about her whereabouts, but still too sleepy to fully remember. Then her nose must have picked up on the familiar scent and he could feel her jaw twitch against his skin.

Ever so slowly she pushed herself up, still mindful of his wound. He watched as she screwed her eyes shut while straightening her spine and rolling her shoulders. Red wanted nothing more than to relieve her of that pain, massage the tight knots until she was putty in his hands. Finally her head turned and their eyes met and he gave her a tired smile.

"Good morning, Lizzie."

She blushed heavily, probably having figured out that he knew she had used him as a pillow. "Morning," she replied softly, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, you didn't. Sweetheart, would you mind handing me that dress shirt over there?"

"You really shouldn't be out of bed," she told him. "I can help with whatever you need."

Red could barely hold in a grin. "I actually need to use the bathroom." Her blush just deepened.

"I uh… I…"

He chuckled whole-heartedly. "I can manage, Lizzie, no reason to get embarrassed. Would you just get me that shirt please?"

"Yes, of course." She scrambled to fetch his button-down and handed it to him, trying not to stare at his chest. My god has she really slept on top of him?

He carefully pulled his shirt on and made his way towards the bathroom. After relieving himself, Red used the sink to wash up a little. When he walked out again, he saw that she was still glued to the spot. Feeling bold, he walked up to her and wound his arm around her waist to pull her into his side. "Thank you for staying with me, sweetheart," he said, dropping a kiss to her head. "I'm sorry I ruined your night."

She momentarily leaned into his touch. "You had me worried," she confessed, not commenting on her ruined date.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Dembe shouldn't have called."

She squeezed the hand that lay at her waist. "I would've been mad if he hadn't."

He wanted to kiss her, right then and there. "I'll keep that in mind," he whispered, before pulling away, both not realizing that the other already missed their touch.

"Let me change your bandage," she suddenly said, walking over to the table that held the supplies.

"You don't have you. I can do it myself or have Dembe do it."

She turned around and gave him a look that clearly told him to shut up, and Red nodded to himself before walking over to the bed. He sat down and watched as she made to stand between his parted legs. He really shouldn't get turned on now though, not in these sweatpants at least.

When she just continued to stare at him, he grew a little uncertain. "What?" He finally asked.

"You have to take off your shirt."

No way. "I don't think that's necessary," he replied immediately.

"How am I supposed to clean that up then?" She cocked her head to the right and continued glaring at him.

Red could feel his heart rate increasing under her scrutinizing eyes. He had kind of worked himself into a corner there. "On the other hand, I think we should let Dembe do this. He has been patching me together for years."

"Take your shirt off."

"Lizzie, you really shouldn't bother yourself with this. I wouldn't want to get blood on your beautiful dress," he stalled, trying to distract her. "Have I told you how beautiful you look in this dress? Blue really brings out your eyes."

"Red, I know about the scars. Now take off your shirt."

Just... what? "You know?"

She bit her bottom lip nervously. "I know. And I also know you didn't want me to know, and that you don't want to talk about it, so let's just drop it and move on."

To him, she was the most perfect woman on the planet. Even without really grasping it, she understood him like only a handful of people did, and she apparently respected his need for privacy enough not to poke around.

Shrugging off his button-down, he watched as she carefully peeled off the bloody patch. Before she could start cleaning the wound, his free hand found hers and their eyes locked.

"Not yet," he said simply, and Liz gave him a small smile, both coming to a silent agreement.

While she was working on cleaning him up and re-dressing the gunshot wound, Red's eyes never left her face.


	7. Chapter 7

After spending the morning together and having breakfast, Liz had reluctantly left his safe house, feeling the need to shower and get a fresh set of clothes, even though he had offered to have Dembe fetch her some. After cleaning herself up, she dried her body with a fluffy towel before slipping on some comfortable clothes. Liz texted him to call her if he needed anything while she waited for her laptop too boot up.

When she logged in on the dating website, she was surprised that Richard was online, but hadn't messaged her yet. Maybe he was mad at her. Well, he did have the right to be... Sighing, she opened the chat window and started typing.

"Hey, Richard."

It took a few moment, but then he finally replied. "Hello, Liz."

Talking online to someone was hard because you couldn't see their facial expression. How were you supposed to know if they were mad?

"You won't believe how sorry I am. I really didn't mean to leave you hanging."

"It's alright. I'm sure you had a good reason," he replied.

"There was an emergency and I had to leave," she messaged him. "I had already gotten to the restaurant. Gosh, I'm sorry. This is not really working out here, is it?"

Across the city, Red tried his hardest to type with only one hand, as his wounded arm was still stuck in a sling. He was bad enough at this with two fully functioning hands, but this was taking a ridiculous amount of time. He was tugging on the sling, trying to open it so he could actually use both hands, when Dembe walked into the study he was sitting in at the moment.

"Raymond, just leave it."

"This," he started, shooting a disgusted look at his hurt arm. "is screwing up my plan."

The tall man couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips. He had never seen his friend like that. It was as if he had turned into a teenager again, all flustered and nervous because of the girl of his dreams.

"You should not mess with the sling, my friend," he told the older man. "Or you will end up not being able to execute your plan at all."

Red groaned. Of course Dembe was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Dropping his head in surrender, he took a calming breath and started typing with one hand again.

"I understand. It's alright."

"Are you mad at me?" She asked, and he had no problem imagining her wide, blue eyes looking at him while wearing a cute pout on her face.

"Of course not," he typed back as quickly as he could. "We really do seem to have a problem meeting up. How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" She asked.

"Yes, an acquaintance of mine is throwing a Christmas party. Would you like to be my plus one?"

Without giving it much thought, Liz replied, "Christmas party?"

Red rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his lips. "Yes, Christmas. You know, the holiday that's coming up soon? Where they put elderly men in red costumes and they have to wear fake beards? Christmas?"

Smart ass. He was just like a certain someone she knew. "I know what Christmas is!" She protested.

He huffed a laugh, not noticing the look Dembe was giving him. "Six pm. Tonight."

Leaning back into the couch, she allowed herself to smile. "Where is the party?" Driven by excitement, he started typing the address as quickly as he could. "How will I know who you are?" She asked.

"Just for you, I will be wearing a charcoal three-piece and fedora," he messaged back.

Biting her lip to keep herself from grinning too much, she typed her reply. "I can't wait, I'll see you soon." Then she signed off.

Red almost leaped off his chair in excitement. Tonight would be the night. Even though things hadn't gone quite as well as he had hoped, he was almost 100% sure that Lizzie wouldn't turn him down, and hopefully she wouldn't be mad for this whole charade...

LizzingtonLizzingtonLizzington

She chose a black, tight fitting, lace cocktail dress with a v neck that barely reached her knee. She knew she was being bold, but she had never gotten the chance to actually wear this dress, so why not now? Richard seemed like a wonderful man, but Liz was having a problem getting another man out of her head. How desperately she wanted to be on her way to meet Red now. The man had stolen her heart from almost the beginning. Though she admitted that she had wanted to kill him at least twice since he had walked into her life. He was the one constant in her life, the only one that would always stand by her side; but he would never be hers to keep.

Liz felt bad for Richard. Even if he was the nicest man she had ever met, he would never be what she wanted, whom she wanted. Mentally chastising herself, she checked her appearance in the rear view mirror one last time. She was looking good, and she hardly ever said that about herself, but this time she really did look good. Taking another calming breath, she exited the car. She hadn't had any problem finding this place. It was one of the biggest hotels in the DC area, one of the nicest too. And one of the most expensive, of course. Walking towards the entrance, a doorman gave her a smile, tipped his topper and opened the door for her.

Inside, another man greeted her and asked if she was there for the Christmas party. After telling him that she was indeed attending said party, she let him know that her plus one would be waiting inside. With a smile he showed her to the big ballroom and wished her a wonderful night.

What greeted her inside stole her breath away. The room was illuminated by an ocean of candles with rose petals scattered all over the floor. It was almost empty, except for a single waiter, a barkeeper and another individual. She would have thought that maybe she had gotten the address wrong or had been showed to the wrong party if not for the man standing in the middle of the room. A man in a grey three-piece suit with a matching fedora on his head. A 5'10'' tall man, with stunning eyes, a cute smile and his arm in a sling…

For a moment she couldn't move, could barely get air into her lungs at all. Was this really happening? Was she maybe dreaming? Hallucinating? The man cocked his head slightly to the right, his eyes soft and never leaving her face, and she could already feel the prickling sensation at the back of her eyes, announcing that tears were about to be shed.

Seeing him shuffle his feet, she realized that he was nervous, nervous because of her reaction. She made him nervous. Somehow the knowledge of the power she actually held over him made her legs work and she found herself moving towards him, her speed gradually picking up. Before she could stop herself, Liz flung herself at him, her arms around his neck in an almost choking embrace.

Upon impact, she heard a low groan come from him. How could she have forgotten about his gunshot wound?! She pulled back immediately and started muttering apologies. "God, I'm so sorry. I forgot… I…"

Before she could fully retreat, Red tightened the arm that had found its way around her waist. "Don't you dare pull away now," he said, his voice low and loaded with emotion.

"I'm hurting you," she replied in almost the same tone, dropping her head to his shoulder.

"Stay." He took a deep breath to calm himself. Now that she was here and actually seemed happy to see him, he felt a little better; though he was still nervous, which was something he wasn't used to at all. "Lizzie," he whispered, dropping a kiss to her head and he felt her arms hugging him even more tightly.

Liz tried blinking away the tears, but it didn't work, and without realizing, she started crying softly. She couldn't believe that this was really happening, that he was really here, holding her. That he had planned this all along because he felt the same for her as she felt for him.

"Sweetheart." His lips moved over her hair. "Please don't cry. No more tears. Please, Lizzie."

She pulled her head back a little without loosening her arms so she could look into his eyes. A storm of emotions swirled around them, and he wasn't trying to hide them. "Happy tears," she simply told him.

His hand moved from her waist to her face and he gently brushed the wetness off her cheeks before cupping her jaw in his warm palm. "You're so beautiful," he said, smiling at her.

One of her hands drifted to the front of his suit, running her fingers over the soft fabric now that she could. "You don't look so bad yourself," she replied, her own lips curling upwards.

"You did say the grey suit was one of your favorites. My, Lizzie, if I'd known you were going to wear this…" He broke off and let his eyes roam over her body. "I would have chosen a tuxedo."

While her one hand was gently caressing the back of his neck, the other was playing with the buttons on his vest. "This one is just fine."

He sighed contently, her ministrations almost putting him to sleep, but he was far from done. He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, making sure that she was doing the same. Red knew immediately when she had looked up as well, and his eyes found hers again as he grinned smugly at her.

"Really?" The humor was clear in her voice.

Letting his thumb run over her jaw, he moved even closer to her. "You know what they about mistletoe," he replied, the low rumble of his voice making her shiver.

"Mhm… what do they say?" She asked, almost matching his tone.

He smiled, staring into her eyes as he leaned in ever so slowly. She tried holding his gaze as long as she could, but found it impossible to keep her eyes open at all when she felt his warm, moist breath on her lips, and her eyes rolled backwards in their sockets. A moment later, his lips descended onto hers and he was kissing her, putting months, probably years of emotion into the touch, and Liz couldn't stop the small moan that escaped her throat.

One of her hands tightly grabbed onto the lapel of his jacket, while the fingers of the other one gently pulled at the short hair at the back of his head. His lips were so soft, softer than she had imagined even, and she found that she never wanted to stop kissing him. Just when she thought it couldn't get any better, Liz felt the tip of his tongue at her bottom lip, gently running along it while asking for entrance, and she gladly granted it. When his tongue slipped into her mouth and she got to taste him for the very first time; she felt her heart explode.

Red was right with her, unable to swallow the moan that bubbled up in his own throat. She tasted divine. Warm, with a hint of wine; probably Chardonnay, like summer, just like he had always imagined, but even better.

They stood like that for a while, both lost in the sensations of kissing the other, tasting them, taking turns at pulling the others lip between their teeth to pull it into their warmth. And only when their lungs burned with the need for oxygen did they part, but they didn't move apart. Instead, Red started kissing over her cheeks, her jaw, down her throat, and towards her neck, savoring her scent and taste, not at all ready to stop just yet.

She leaned further into him and put her cheek to the side of his head. "Red…"

"Mhm…" he just murmured against her skin, and Liz had to smile.

"Raymond." That seemed to do the trick, and he reluctantly pulled back while staying close.

He loved hearing his name come from her sweet, kiss swollen lips. "Elizabeth," he whispered, making the fine hair at her neck stand to attention.

"You did all that? Went to all this trouble?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry for this... charade. I needed to be sure that you and I were on the same page. I never meant to stand you up, or get shot," he told her. "Forgive me?"

She slid her arm from behind his neck and put both her hands on his cheeks. "Yes," she said, before pulling him into another kiss.

Maybe this year he would celebrate Christmas. Actually, he was pretty sure he would now that there was something to celebrate. He hummed against her lips and hugged her as close as he could. Red would make sure that he did everything and anything to make sure she would never feel anything but loved.


End file.
